Mayana

[John F. Schwaller]

approve: Major.Admin.nahuat-l
X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express Macintosh Edition - 4.5 (0410)
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 16:35:21 -0400
Subject: Re: Mayana
From: "Frances Karttunen" <karttu at nantucket.net>

The altepetl/municipio of Milpa Alta already has a Nahuatl name, and it is
not a translation of 'High Field.' The Nahuatl name appears in several
variant forms. The form doña Luz Jiménez used in her autobiography is
Momochco Malacateticpac. Another variant is Malacachtepec Momoxco.
In order to have -co attached directly to it, momoch-/momoz- must be a noun,
and it's probably momoztli '(Mesoamerican) altar.' The other stem that
looks like a good candidate is momotzoa 'to scratch at something, to shred
something,' but that is a transitive/reflexive verb and wouldn't form a
place name as simple as Momoxco. The other element of the name indicates
that the altar is on top of Malacatepetl "Spindle Hill.'

Fran